Bidhawal language

Bidhawal
Birrdhawal, Bidwell
mŭk-dhang
Native to	Australia
Region	Gippsland
Ethnicity	Bidhawal
Extinct	(date missing)
Language family	Pama–Nyungan Gippsland Gunaikurnai Bidhawal
Writing system	Latin transcription
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ihw
Glottolog	gana1268
AIATSIS	S49
Aboriginal Victorian language territories. Bidhawal (labeled Bidwell) is at the right, in green.

The Bidawal language was an Australian Aboriginal language, either a dialect of or closely related to the Kurnai language, which was spoken by the Kurnai tribes to the west. However, the Bidawal dialect had borrowed a number of words referring to mammals, birds and celestial bodies from Ngarigo, as well as a smaller number of words from Thawa and Dhudhuroa. The Bidawal called their own dialect mŭk-dhang (or muk-thang) ("good speech"), and that of the neighbouring Kurnai gūnggala-dhang. The Kurnai, however, called their own dialect mŭk-dhang, and that of the Bidawal kwai-thang ("rough speech").

Phonology

Bidhawal consonants

	Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar
Plosive	p~b	t̪~d̪ ⟨dh, th⟩	t/d	ʈ/ɖ	c~ɟ ⟨ty, dy⟩	k~ɡ
Nasal	m	n̪ ⟨nh⟩	n	ɳ	ɲ ⟨ny, ñ⟩	ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Rhotic			r
Lateral			l
Approximant	w			ɻ~r~ɾ ⟨r⟩	j ⟨y⟩

Grammar

Pronouns

Pronouns are inflected for person, number, and case. There are no gendered pronouns.

Bidhawal pronouns

			Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	1st person	inclusive	Ngaiu	Ngallu	Ngangun
		exclusive		Ngallung	Ngangunnang
	2nd person		Ngindu	Ngindubul	Ngindigan
	3rd person		Mindha	Mindhabullong	Mindhagullang
Possesive	1st person	inclusive	Ngaindya	–	–
		exclusive		–	–
	2nd person		Ngingunna	–	–
	3rd person		Ngaianga	–	–

The pronouns for Kurnai (Gūnggaladhang) are vary similar to those for Bidhawal.

Sources

• Barwick, Diane E. (1984). McBryde, Isabel (ed.). "Mapping the past: an atlas of Victorian clans 1835-1904". Aboriginal History. 8 (2): 100–131. JSTOR 24045800.
• Dixon, R. M. W. (2002). Australian Languages: Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-47378-1.
• Howitt, A. W. (1886). "On the Migrations of the Kurnai Ancestors". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 15: 419–420.
• Howitt, A. W. (2010) [First published 1904]. The Native Tribes of South-East Australia. Cambridge University Press. pp. 79–81. ISBN 9781108006323.
• Mathews, R. H. (October 4, 1907). "Language of the Birdhawal Tribe, in Gippsland, Victoria". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 46 (187): 346–359. JSTOR 983474.
• Mathews, R. H. (1908). "Initiationszeremonie des Birdhawal-Stammes (Initiation Ceremony of the Birdhawal Tribe)". Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft. 38: 17–24.
• Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Bidawal (VIC)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University Press. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.